Local marathon runners shine in Dublin and Frankfurt
Athlone Athletics Club was certainly well represented at the Irish Life Dublin Marathon last Sunday as 36 club members completed the gruelling distance of 26.2 miles.
The Athlone AC contingent of runners were among the 16,500 athletes who made their away around the nation's capital city, battling wet conditions in the process.
Leading the way for Athlone AC was Kate Kelly who produced a highly impressive run in her first marathon with a time of 2.56.14. The Dysart native is no stranger to prizes over various distances and this performance saw Kate finish 11th in her category.
David Watson (3.07.43) and Benny McNamara (3.11.45) both recorded new PBs and Deirdre Keena (3.07.56) ran her second best marathon on what was her tenth time to complete the distance.
David Cuddy and Kieran Shine both completed the marathon, despite injuries impeding their preparations in the build-up. Obviously, those early morning runs stood to David!
Several runners completed their first marathon (always a very special feeling), others recorded a new personal best and some overcame various obstacles just to get to the starting line. All those training sessions under the guidance of Gary Flannery and Oisín Ó Gibne paid off in the end.
There were many other notable performances from local runners who are not members of Athlone AC. Castledaly native Oliver Galvin smashed the 3-hour mark in style with a new PB of 2.56.32. His sister Marian completed her first marathon and was very happy to do inside four hours. Apparently, Marian's husband Kevin Byrne got her though those tough last few miles!
Brendan Kelly (a member of Tullamore Harriers) was another Castledaly person to run the marathon. Mary Galvin, Sorcha Galvin and Naomi Galvin (also Tullamore Harriers members) from Moate made it a family affair with all three completing the marathon on the same day.
Further afield, Mick Fogarty impressed yet again as he recorded a time of 2.33.18 in the Frankfurt Marathon. It wasn't a PB for the Athlone native, with the Ferbane AC athlete having recorded a phenomenal time of 2.30.19 in Dublin last year.
Mick was on course to go inside 2.30 last Sunday until a quad muscle injury flared up with about four kilometres to go. To put Fogarty's standard of running into perspective, his time in Frankfurt is his third best marathon.
Also in action in Frankfurt was Athlone AC's Paddy Hamilton who recorded a PB of 3.13.52 in the German city. Paddy's wife Theresa Hughes has been in superb running form in the last couple of years but injury ruled out her out of action last weekend, so Paddy takes the plaudits in the Hamilton household this time!
There was also huge support from Athlone AC members for their colleagues in Dublin, with many braving the rain to offer words of encouragement along the way. Michelle Collins, Edel Doyle, Eanna Kavanagh and Sebastian Sokolowski (who ran superbly himself in this year's Berlin Marathon) were just some of those out in support, with simply too many to mention in this regard.
Many runners and supporters alike caught up in McGrattan's pub afterwards to share their thoughts on a memorable day. Many had travelled up on the early morning bus organised by club chairperson Martina Connell and it seems there are already plans for something similar next year.
The following Athlone AC members (in no particular order, and apologies if anyone is omitted) completed the marathon in Dublin last Sunday: Kate Kelly, David Watson, Deirdre Keena, Benny McNamara, Kieran Shine, David Cuddy, Damien Mitchell, Monika de Almeida, Lisa O'Rourke, Amy Maloney, Siobhan Armstrong, Catherine Gallagher, Kevin Ronan, Rosarii Dunne, Philip Dunne, Paddy Cole, Mary Pidgeon, Triona Kinane, Pam Murphy, Dee Shortall, Colm Kenny, Caroline Devlin, Denis Bergin, Breda Hickey, Teresa Henson, Ann-Marie Callaghan, Thomas McDermott, Oisin O'Donnell, Sinead Hegarty, Sinead Bracken, Nikki McLoughlin, Ally Mahon, Maria Fox, Amanda Irwin, Padraig Irwin, Enda Farrell.